last election so they didn't have to be here cleaning up the mess they left behind. that's "hardball" for now. "politicsnation" with al sharpton starts right now. thanks, chris. and thanks to you for tuning in. tonight's lead, war and politics. americans across the country pause today to remember those who lost their lives on september 11th. president obama addressed the families of 9/11 victims in a solemn ceremony at the pentagon. >> no matter how many years pass, no matter how many times we come together on this hallowed ground, know this, that you will never be alone. your loved ones will never be forgotten. we know that somewhere, a son is growing up with his father's eyes and a daughter has her mother's laugh. living reminders that those who died are with us still.

>> and today out of respect, mitt romney said he'd put aside his differences with the president. but not all republicans did. on this day, senator john mccain, the republican's most trusted voice on national security, made an appalling claim. >> as far as the middle east is concerned, this administration has been an abysmal failure. i have not seen a more reckless foreign policy since president carter. >> feckless foreign policy? does the al qaeda think the president is a feckless failure? rudy giuliani, once called america's mayor, went down to ground zero and criticized the president on iran. >> there has to be a sense of urgency about stopping them instead of this almost irrational desire to negotiate with them.

they have to be afraid of us if we're going to stop them. and i'm not certain that's the case right now. >> look, criticizing the president's foreign policy is fine. but doing it on september 11th and from ground zero? that's really too much. and yesterday former vice president dick cheney claimed americans were, quote, offended at what he called president obama's effort to take sole credit for the killing of osama bin laden. that's not true either. president obama praises the s.e.a.l.s who killed bin laden every chance he gets. the truth is, republicans are desperate because for the first time in decades, they can't pretend like they are trusted on the issue of national security. for years they've campaigned as if they were the only ones who could be tough on america's enemies. the only party that could keep

america safe. republicans have used the image of war and tragedy to make political arguments. in 2004 president bush even used a photo of ground zero in a political ad. >> i'm george w. bush and a prove this message. >> the last few years have tested america in many ways. some challenges we've seen before. and some were like no others. >> 9/11 families accused the bush campaign of exploiting the tragedy. but he refused to stop running the ads. that was 2004. but 2012 is different. bin laden is dead and the bush wars are ending. americans trust president obama on national security because mitt romney is literally not talking about the issues that matter to them. in his speech at the republican convention, romney didn't say

the words al qaeda or september 11th. he also failed to mention iraq and afghanistan. more than 55,000 americans have been killed or injured in those wars but mr. romney didn't think the wars were worth mentioning, in his own speech at his own convention. here's how he tried to explain the oversight. >> i find it interesting that people are curious about mentioning words in a speech as opposed to policy. i have some differences on policy with the president. i happen to think those are more important than what word i mention in each speech. >> do you regret opening up this line of attack, now a recurring attack, by leaving out that issue in the speech? >> i only regret you repeating it day in and day out. when you give a speech you don't go through a laundry list. you talk about the things you think are important. >> you talk about the things that are important. doesn't that include wars in

iraq and afghanistan? today one of romney's foreign policy advisers criticized the ambassador campaign for pointing this out saying, quote, it doesn't surprise me that they're raising foreign policy because it's another distraction from the administration's terrible economic record. they're going from one shiny object to the next. a distraction? a shiny object? our national security is much more than that. and every democrat knows it. joining me now is congressman jim mcdermott, democrat from washington and a veteran of the u.s. navy. and msnbc political analyst, richard wolf, the author of "revival." thanks to both of you for being here tonight. >> thanks, reverend. >> congressman, how would you assess the politics of september 11th?

>> can't hear him. >> i said, how would you assess the republicans' history of playing politics with september 11th? i don't think you hear me. let me go to richard. richard, how would you -- >> they have not been shy about doing this before. it's interesting that they've raised all sorts of worries and criticisms of the president for making his references to the mission that killed bin laden. so, they're playing by a different set of rules. it doesn't matter what they say about the president's policy. voters know, this president made the gutsy call to order that mission that killed america's number one enemy. and it didn't stop there. core leadership of al qaeda has been decimated by this president's approach. we can decide and argue about whether that's appropriate and whether civil liberties have been protected. but his position has been

strong. you could see it between the two conventions. i never thought i would live to see the day post 9/11 when republicans would give up, surrender, the territory they had spend decades building up on national security. mitt romney should know he doesn't have a policy other than the words he says. there is no difference for him between words and policy. the words count. >> now, congressman mcdermott, i understand you can hear me now, when you look at the poll who says, who do you trust more, on terrorism president obama heads his opposition mr. romney 51%/40%. on international affairs he heads him 5 1% to 38%. this is quite a turn-around in terms of the democratic party candidate out polling in areas of terrorism and national security. and given the history of how the republicans have used 9/11, how

do you respond to both the history of using today politically and how today they find themselves in an unusual position where they're actually polling less than the incumbent democratic president on an issue of national security? >> it has never been true, al, that democrats didn't care about national security. you look through our history, democrats have led the way. democrats have done things over and over again. the republicans, however, have put on a tremendous pr campaign that somehow we don't care because we would like to have peace and we talk about arms reduction and things like that. but the fact is, democrats have been strong. the president is thoughtful. the president thinks through very carefully. and then is decisive. the fact he's thoughtful doesn't mean he can't make decisions or won't make the tough decisions. it was a tough call to send

those s.e.a.l.s in on that trip into pakistan to get osama bin laden. that was not an easy call. he knew what had happened to jimmy carter when he tried something similar before, and yet he made the decision and went after it. and that is -- that is absolutely correct that the people have figured it out. that the democrats are the ones who stand up. i listen to that speech and didn't hear him mention afghanistan and i thought, he must have lost a page out of his speech or something. how could you do that? >> that's my point, richard. how is it even politically feasible, particularly if you've been the party of national security and fighting terrorism, to not mention afghanistan, not mention iraq, not mention any of that at all? are they thinking the public is just going to naturally support them when they're not even presenting a policy to support? >> look, you're running for not just president but you're running for the position of commander in chief.

one of the basic bars have you to cross is to show you can hanld the responsibility of commander in chief. that's what traditionally candidates can try to do and that's what mitt romney will have to try to do in debate. republican strategist, whether affiliated with the romney campaign will tell you, this was a self-inflicted wound. there's no need for them to do this. that's fascinating, that quote that you put up earlier, from the unnamed romney foreign policy adviser, who describes foreign policy as a shiny object. what are they thinking? the troops are not a shiny object. we have 100,000 troops or more in afghanistan. we don't really know what mitt romney's policy is if there is an alternative, let him go out and debate it. don't avoid the subjects. >> congressman mcdermott, isn't that the point? we don't know the policy. in fact, president obama this weekend criticized romney on foreign policy saying just that. let me play it to you. >> he said it was tragic for me to end the war in iraq as i did.

he won't tell us how he'll end the war in afghanistan. in fact, didn't even mention it in his speech at his convention. >> he won't tell us how he will end the war. so f you're concerned about foreign policy, you're concerned about even today we see things around the world that is anti-american. how do you not address that if you're running for the president of the united states and commander in chief, as mr. romney is? >> it's inconceivable to me, al, that the american people would take romney seriously after what he did at the convention. because the american people, the first job of the president, is to make the american people safe, to defend the country, to protect the country. and for him to come up there and not even talk about what's going on in a whole bunch of places, whether you want to talk about syria or libya or all the places that the president has had to stand up, make decisions and

stand behind those decisions and come out beautifully on most of them, i -- i think that romney is afraid that he can't do it. that's why he doesn't say anything about it. there's no other explanation except that he's afraid. he knows he ought to be talking about it. >> now, richard, romney's team, 17 of his 24 advisers served under the bush administration. and the reason that becomes relevant today is kurt eichenwald in the new york times came out with intelligence briefings in 2001. may 1st president bush was informed. june 22nd, attack could be imminent. june 29th, dramatic consequences from attack. july 1st, attack will occur soon. august 6th, bin laden determined to strike in u.s. these are way before september 11th in that year. so, there was a lot more warning to bush and his team than what

we previously thought these m.o.s in the report -- the memos and reports are correct, yet some of the people from that team we don't know if these are the ones that saw this, but we don't know whether or not, they're part of the bush strategy in terms of being advisers to him on foreign policy. >> right. i find it hard at this point to be shocked by many things around 9/11. but this -- actually, this reporting by kurt eichenwald is great. people should check it out because it is shocking. it's still shocking after all these years to hear that there were advisers around the president at that time who disregarded the intelligence that was filtering up through the system and was so determined about -- to go after saddam hussein, pre-9/11, never mind post-9/11, that they were willing to disregard the intelligence. given where they ended up campaigning, you would think -- and given where we ended up with iraq, you would think they learned those lessons.

but you heard mayor giuliani talking about iran above all, and mccain, they should know misdirected priorities is no way to balance out this country's security. >> we have to leave it there. thank you both for your time on this 9/11 day. certainly, we give our -- all of us together certainly give our prayers for the families of 9/11 and we're determined to make sure 9/11 doesn't happen again. coming up, mitt romney was supposed to be mr. economy. but the american people have a different idea. good news for the president today. also, signs of panic in the gop. more and more republicans are criticizing their nominee. all that. plus, here comes the big dog, bill clinton is stumping for the president in florida today. and it's about to get a whole lot worse for the romney team. big news from bill clinton today. most of the pain i experience is neck pain

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. ♪ freak out >> do you hear that? it's a special request from the republican party. panic time in the gop. it's coming up. stay with us. ive. nah. [ dennis' voice ] i bet he's got an allstate agent. they can save you up to 30% more by bundling your policies. well, his dog's stupid. [ dennis' voice ] poodles are one of the world's smartest breeds. are you in good hands? to compete on the global stage. what we need are people prepared for the careers of our new economy. by 2025 we could have 20 million jobs without enough college graduates to fill them. that's why at devry university, we're teaming up with companies like cisco

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east he's billionaire casino mogul sheldon addleson, the guy who pledged $1 million to governor romney's campaign. here's how his investment would pay off under president romney. according to a report, addleson would get $6 million in tax cuts for being a casino ceo. a $476 million break on corporate dividends. a $300 million permanent tax exemption for profits on overseas investments. and a $600 million special tax holiday for foreign profits. in total, he gets a $2.3 billion tax cut. jackpot for the billionaire. and under the ryan plan mr. romney himself would pay less than 1% in taxes. another jackpot for the multimillionaire. so the middle class gets squeezed and the rich get

richer? how's that fair? how is this supposed to help the economy? but the american people are onto this. a new poll shows more americans trust the president to handle the economy than mr. romney, 47% to 45%. this comes from another poll that has the president leading the economy. this election is about choice, about fairness, and the president is getting the message out. >> here in america, hard work will pay off. here in america, responsibility will be rewarded. that everybody gets a fair shot. i'm asking you to rally around some goals, concrete, achievable goals in manufacturing and energy and education. in reducing our deficit, that will lead to new jobs and more opportunity. and it will rebuild our economy on a stronger foundation. that's what the next four years are about.

that's why i'm running for president. that's why i need your support. that's why i need your support. >> do you want an america that's fair or one that's rigged? >> joining me is washington reporter for "newsweek" and victoria, fellow at university of texas and an msnbc contributor. thanks to both of you for being here tonight. >> good evening, reverend. >> michelle, let me start with up. more americans now trust the president on the economy. what happened? >> one of the things is what didn't happen. mitt romney didn't get into his plan how he would make it better to a degree most people were comfortable with. also in this poll is the number the vast majority of people don't feel they have a good grasp of what he would do to make things better.

so while the majority of people still don't approve of how obama is doing on the economy, they don't think they would be better off under a romney presidency. and a lot of them don't think there's anybody who could have done better than this. it's what bill clinton told us during his speech on some level. >> now, victoria, a new washington post/abc news poll asked americans who they trusted to advance the interest of the middle class, and the president had a 15-point edge. 53% to 38%. that's a big edge when you're asking this question about who would advance the middle class's interest more. why do you think there's such a gap there between who they feel would do that in terms of the president and his opponent? >> i think the campaign was very successful that you don't swap horses midstream. the president's speakers,

especially bill clinton, acknowledged the economic pain but they reminded the electorate that this was an external shock. while things aren't ideal, you need to stay the course. i found it very interesting that this message of staying the course and that slow and steady improvement is a will the of what we saw in 2004 coming out of the republican national convention with bush. dealing with terror not the economy. but in saying, we had this external shock. we need to move forward. i can't help but see the other similarities in terms of the challenger to incumbent's president. where in 2004 we saw john kerry, a bossipatritoin, out of touch with the election, and same with romney. >> when you look at the romney/ryan ticket and deal with the fact that it appears that many americans are -- not trustful of romney handling the economy, maybe they're looking at ryan's budget plan, which

really clearly makes these points. cuts $1.5 trillion from affordable care act, cuts $200 billion from medicare, $770 billion from medicaid, cuts the top tax rate from 35% to 25%. these are clearly not things you would say are fighting in the interest of the middle class. >> a lot of people inside washington, particularly republican party leaders, were really excited about ryan's plan and kind of what an intellectual he is within the party. they forgot in the midterms ryan's plan was taken out by a lot of politicians and they got clobbered with it. it's got a lot of controversial parts. nobody's going to want to go down into florida and talk about cutting medicare or medicaid and, you know, have to answer to those voters for this. and the finer details of, well, would ryan cut it for this generation of medicare recipients or change for the next one? those are going to get lost in

the campaign shuffle. >> michelle, wasn't romney the mr. economy, the mr. fix it guy? i mean, the fact that he ran as that and he's been rejected in that area, which is normally a republican stronghold, that's a big deal, isn't it? >> this is hard for him but partly he didn't come up with his own plan. he has always latched onto the ryan plan. and this is where i think democrats are going to say, well, you know, there's a big difference between the kind of business maneuvers that romney does, where you shift jobs overseas and pare down businesses and try to build up a society and run a government. they're going to make that contrast. >> now, victoria, when you look at a report from the economic policy institute, it shows how out of control the wealth gap has grown. in that gap, it's harder to argue tax cuts when the median income for household in terms of

their wealth, rather, the median wealth of household in america, $57,000. but for the top 1%, their net worth was over $16 million. that's a 288 times as large as the median household wealth. how do you and that kind much gap say the rich ought to continue to get more cuts and not the middle class and not the poor? >> well, i think what michelle said is the fact that romney is not showing any leadership. he's not giving folks an alternative plan. there's nothing there to hang your head on. folks just don't connect with romney. they see him. he's a super wealthy man. they don't share his lifestyle. the likability factor creeps in. we saw this is in the polling coming off the convention that folks just don't relate to him. there was a great question in there about who would you want to have at your house for dinner? only a third said romney and well over half said president obama because he's so out of

touch. he's that 1% compared to the rest of the 99%. >> michelle cottle and victoria defranchesco soto. from rush limbaugh to murdoch, more and more are freaking out. plus the secretary of explaining stuff. bill clinton is making a key argument for president obama in a critical swing state. [ male announcer ] wouldn't it be nice if there was an easier,

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welcome back to "politicsnation." did anyone happen to catch governor romney's rally yesterday? i was really struck by the music they played when he walked out. take a listen. >> please welcome the next president of the united states, mitt romney! ♪ ah freak out so chic ♪ ♪ freak out ah freak out ♪ >> no, no, they weren't actually playing "freak out" but they might as well have because his party is in panic mode. rupert murdoch is back to giving advice on twitter, telling romney to stop fearing the far right which has nowhere else to go, otherwise no hope. that's mild compared to

murdoch's paper. "the wall street journal" headline today, the gop candidate might try explaining his policies. just a thought. at this point conservative columnist byron york writes, republican nervousness threatens to turn into a stampede. even the far right blog newsmax seems to have thrown in the towel. the poll on their front page asks, can romney make a comeback? other than that, everything is great with the romney team. no, i'm kidding. just listen to the right wing talkers. sound like desperation. >> if obama wins, let me tell you what it's the end of, the republican party. >> if you can't beat barack obama with this record, then shut down the party. >> if the republican party cannot win in this environment, it has to get out of politics and find another -- >> no i think -- >> can't you feel the optimism?

joining me now is steve, he's writing about this mitt romney specificity problem. even republicans are calling on romney to provide policy details. a and elisia menendez, "huff post live." >> hi. >> have you ever seen a party this unsure in a candidate? >> yes, bob dole in 1996, the republican who ran against the last democratic incumbent and there was a point where republicans concluded dole wasn't going to be the winner. i think when you looked tat in 1996, you could say there was no way in that climate, improving economy, dole wasn't going to unseat clinton so republicans weren't that upset about it. but what you see in that clip,

there's a convictions among republicans that this is ang election they should be winning, unemployment rate is so high, there's no excuse for their party to be losing that. on top of that, they came into this campaign without much trust, without much faith in mitt romney. so, all it takes, really s romney -- it's still a winnable race for romney, but if romney falls behind, three, four, five points, like we're seeing this point, that's when the panic sets in at a level we haven't seen before because they're waiting to pounce with second guessing and monday-morning quarterbacking and that sort of thing. >> even trent lott has slammed romney's lack of specifics today in the new york times saying mr. romney needs to say clearly, you elect me, this is what you're going to get. but not only is romney refusing to offer specifics, he's even flip-flopping on things like health care. just listen to his change in logic within one day. listen to this.

>> i'm not getting rid of all of health care reform. of course. there are a number of things i like in health care reform that i'm going to put in place. one is to make sure those with preexisting conditions can get coverage. >> well, of course, i'm going to repeal obama care. i've said that on the campaign trail, i think, every single day. obama care must be repealed. in its entirety. >> in its entirety. so, how does this indecisiveness play into the grop panic we're seeing? >> it should be panicked about much more than mitt romney. they should be panicked about their entire processes. it's something that happened four years ago. in order to win the gop primary, have you to attack so far to the right on every issue, whether it's on immigration, whether it's on health care, whether it is on taxes and the economy. then you are virtually unelectable when you come into the general election. that's what we're seeing happen with mitt romney. yes, he talked every day about repealing obama care because he

needed to do that in order to win the republican primary. it's not necessarily a popular position in a general elector rat that has pieces of obama care they very much like and that they're very much attached to. this is a problem that, yes, is specific in some ways to mitt romney but it's much larger. it's about the identity of the gop. win or lose in november, that's something they have to grapple with two years down the line and four years down the line. >> now, i think that, steve, rush limbaugh yesterday summed up what most conservatives think. that is, it doesn't matter who romney is. the base is voting against obama. listen to limbaugh. >> i know romney isn't ideal. i know romney ticks you off. romney, remember, isn't about him. he may as well be elmer fudd as far as we're concerned. we're voting against obama. >> is being against obama enough

to win an election? >> that's what republicans, i think, and we're all sort of finding out right now. we had two months to go, let's see what happens but at this point we can say obama is ahead in this race and obama has basically been ahead in this race all the way. not by a huge margin but two, three, four points consistently. that's about where it is right now. maybe climbing higher with the convention. what romney has tried to be in this campaign, more than anything else, is the generic protest vehicle to take swing voters, who are economically anxious to be as bland as possible so if they're ready to throw out obama they'll say good enough when they look at obama and won't second-guess themselves. for all their effort to be that bland, generic candidate it's only getting them 46%, 47%. he has not led, since republican nominee, in the spring, he has not polled ahead of any polling averages against obama. i think that's significant. >> steve still says he has time

to win but national journalist charlie cook says it may be too late for romney to sell himself personally. he writes, the romney campaign made the extraordinary decision to not try seriously to connect their candidate with voters on a personal level until their convention, but the bigraphical film and the testals of people whose lives had been touched by romney were powerful, necessary, and largely unseen. and then says, debates were used for empathy. >> there's a question about if there's a mitt romney they can sell to voters, whether or not it's too late. we've seen various versions of mitt romney, whether it's his policy, positions or his bio, the point they chose to reference, but i think all of that is just a backdrop to his policies. you know, when you have a tax plan that raises taxes on 95% of americans. you have middle class families,

their taxes are going up by about $2,000 a year. and then you put that against the back drop of someone perceived to be out of touch, who doesn't necessarily understand the challenges and concerns of everyday middle class americans, that compounds into an unhappy situation for team romney. i don't know if it's too late. i don't know if they had much of a narrative to share. >> steve o that last point, reuters points out that romney is even having problems with southern whites. sheryl harris voted twice for george bush, raised a baptist. she's convinced despite all the evidence to the con temporary that president obama is a practicing muslim. so if this election will she support mitt romney? she says, not a chance. at least he wasn't brought up filthy rich. interesting. >> very interesting. i did not believe those who would think he would a muslim and still voting for him.

what she's talking about there, the economic connection, the cultural connection through his upbringing. that was a problem for him in the republican primaries. he was losing when it was still competitive with him and santorum and newt gingrich. he was doing extremely well among country club republicans, $100,000 income above. >> he's still doing well in those quiet rooms. thanks for coming on the show tonight. catch steve on "the cycle," weekdays at 3 p.m. weekdays right here on msnbc. still ahead, the message from bill clinton that republicans don't want to hear. but first, we found the president zoo for newt gingrich. your "politicsnation" break is next.

we're back from a political battles from the day. a time to rest, relax and recharge. we kick things off at a zoo in thailand. and this is not a circus act. it's just another day at the park with your closest tigers. yes, those people are playing in a pool with tigers. not my idea of fun. check out this tiger's elevation as he leaps up. i think i know someone who might enjoy this.

>> i love the natural world. i love animals, whether they're in -- out in the wild. i love animals in zoos. >> from newt's zoos to the uk. i hope you're not afraid of heights for this one. it's the cliff diving championships. they're jumping and twisting from 90 feet. look at them tumble into the celtic sea. that looks scarier than the diving romney is doing in the polls. that's your "politicsnation" break.

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♪ something to me ♪ that nobody else could do bill clinton is back, just six days after his big speech at the democratic convention. clinton is back on the road campaigning for president obama. he's hitting the trail in florida tomorrow. they report it's the first of five battleground states he'll

visit, promoting his message for president obama. >> this is a pivotal election. no country making progress on creating a society where people share the future. not a single one got there with a militant, bitter, anti-government strategy. what works in the modern world is partnership. it's not business versus government. the way it's set up by our opponents in this election. it's business and government working together. >> clinton is all in for the president's re-election campaign. "the times" is also reporting he's agreed to do fund raising in october. and he'll appear in more political ads like this one. >> this is a clear choice. the republican plan is to cut more taxes on -- >> a few weeks ago republicans were talking about bill clinton, like he was their favorite democrat. i don't think we'll hear much of that any time soon. joining me now, dana milbank,

columnist for "the washington post." thank you for being here tonight. >> good evening, reverend. >> bill clinton is all in for the president. how worried should the romney team be? >> they should be worried and kicking themselves because they basically invited bill clinton into this campaign by saying there's by big difference between clinton and obama. clinton was a moderate, reformed welfare and obama is this other liberal you can't recognize. so, they invited bill clinton to come into this is campaign. i think obama took a gamble in having this permit in the campaign. you know what? i think he's learned the mistake that al gore made back in 2000. al gore unleashed bill clinton, things may have turned out very differently in that election. it looks to be coming out to obama's advantage right now. >> now, just moments ago in his appearance in miami, he attacked the misinformation by the gop on

obama care. listen to what he said a few moments ago. >> they got away with running this old dog through the chute in 2010. and countless thousands of seniors voted because they were given misinformation against people who supported a plan that strengthened medicare and strengthened medicare advantage. so, i'm talking about it everywhere because the first time they did that it was their fault. if we let it happen again, i >> so, him going out like this, clarifying, accusing the republicans of misinformation, has to be very effective. >> well, sure. how often do you hear, running this old dog through the chute? not enough in campaign rhetoric. it works because bill clinton -- look, he's hugely popular now. 69% of the public view him favorably. but he's particularly popular among seniors.

he's the guy who made -- saved social security first, the catch word of the 1990s. he is very well trusted by seniors, particularly in a place like florida where he is, but he'll be valuable around the country for that. he has a lot of strengths among groups that obama isn't necessarily strong among. and seniors in florida, that's really bill clinton's sweet spot. >> now, but peter baker said in "the times" that clinton is not always effective. some of the people he supported in 2010 lost, but dana milbanks says the gamble will probably prove to be a good one, them taking a chance on bill clinton. why do you say that, dana? >> well, it's always a gamble because you never know exactly what's going to come out of bill clinton's mouth and he's already hurt -- he hurt obama on the question of taxes for, you know, whether to extend -- which ones of the bush tax cuts.

he can be off message. he'll say what's on his mind. right now with fewer than 60 days to the election, his interests are very much in line with obama. they both want obama to win, for clinton's legacy, for hillary clinton and for obama. he has a real incentive to stay on message here. he went off script during the convention but he stayed on megsage. it appears, you know, for the next 55 or so days, he's going to be able to put aside his own ambition for the greater good. >> now, dana, i thank you for your time tonight. >> thanks, reverend. >> let me say this. i've not always agreed with bill clinton. i've not always disagreed. i felt that the move to the right of center of the party was not good when i ran in '04, which mr. clinton helped to do. but bill clinton, unquestionably was one that brought this country to a good and stable place when he was president and he made one of the greatest political speeches of all time last week.

i think he's an asset. and i think the republicans knew that. that's why they were trying to praise him before he decided to join this campaign. we'll be right back. it doesn't get any better than endless shrimp at red lobster. you can mix and match all day! [ male announcer ] red lobster's endless shrimp is back... but only for a limited time! try as much as you like, any way you like! like parmesan crusted shrimp just $14.99. i'm ryan isabell and i sea food differently. riding the dog like it's a small horse is frowned upon in this establishment! luckily though, ya know,

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finally tonight, day two of the teachers strike in chicago. negotiations continue between union and city officials. one sticky point. a new evaluation system. they're also fighting over job security and benefit. meantime, 350,000 students are out of school. this fight began in chicago but is being played out across the country. governor romney says the teachers are turning their backs on the students. and paul ryan went even further saying he, quote, stands with mayor rahm emanuel. now, what on earth could make these two stand with rahm emanuel? he's president obama's former chief of staff and a former democratic congressman.

we know something is fishy about this. there's only one reason romney and ryan are getting involved. money and its role in politics. take a look at this. it's the top ten outside political donors in 2010. only three of them give primarily to democrats. all three just happen to be unions. look at that. what a coincidence. republicans know if they crush the union in chicago, they'll be crushing one of the strongest supporters of democratic causes in the country. that's why this fight is so important. what happens in chicago won't stay in chicago. but the real important people in this matter is the children in the schools. i believe teachers out to be held accountable and evaluated, but so should the school system and you should be accountable for not providing books and resources and overcrowded classrooms. we